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Chapter Two

Your community

bookshop

Chapter Two

Find us on Chesham High Street, near the clock tower!

Chapter Two is a community bookshop selling pre-loved books, gifts, vinyl and stationery with all profits to The Hospice of St Francis.

Our Book Subscription Service!

Our Book Subscription Service!

A wonderful gift for any book lover. Give us a few details and we will do the rest! Choose from 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions - these 'Books for Good' will be supporting our local hospice care!

Find out more

returned-to-glory

Events

October 2024 Programme               

Saturday mornings - Storytime - At 10.30 a.m.

Thursday 3rd October - Diversity Book Club
This month’s book: The New Life by Tom Crewe.
All welcome. From 5.30 p.m. 

Saturday 5th October – Jurassic High Street
Supporting the annual event with a window full of all things dinosaur supporting Chesham Connect from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Sunday 6th October - Chesham Classic Bus Running Day
We will have a special selection of bus and train books on display supporting the recreation of the London Transport Route between Chesham and local towns 

Saturday 26th October – Author Event
Local author Matt Writtle will be here signing his new book, Pathways, a photographic journey along the Ridgeway, Britain’s oldest road.
From 10.30am 
 

Events take place at Chapter Two and are FREE unless otherwise stated.

Donations welcome with all profits going to the Hospice of St Francis

For more information on any of our events please ask a member of staff who will be happy to help

A few of the five star reviews from Google

Fantastic bookshop, serving a great cause but unlike many jumble-sale style charity shops it creates a wonderful cosy space, with themed sections, and well thought out initiatives beyond the books.

I was given Books for Good for a whole year - and what a truly wonderful present it has been. Mark made the most imaginative choices and introduced me to a range of authors I had never read.

A very welcome addition to the Chesham High Street. They organise events like poetry evenings and book launches to support local authors. It is no exaggeration to say this is Britain's Best Bookshop.

It is an absolutely unique and quirky bookshop, and all proceeds go to charity. Imagination has been put into the design of this shop and I loved it! Not just books but gifts and interesting items.

Great shop with very attentive and knowledgeable staff. Great ideas for gifts and good quality presents. Definitely one of the best bookshops I’ve been to.

Amazing atmosphere for a charity shop. Makes me wish the Chesham library has as cosy a vibe. Best selection of books in town.

Location

10 High St, Chesham, HP5 1EP

Opening Hours:

Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 4.30pm

Saturday: 9.30am to 5.00pm

Sunday: 10.00am to 4.00pm

Tel: 01494 791260

Want to get in touch? Drop us an email on chaptertwo@stfrancis.org.uk or 
message us on social media!

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Su outside shop

Su recently became the shop Manager at Chapter Two, the Hospice bookshop in Chesham! She describes Chapter Two as a ‘friendly, happy community space’. 

"I joined the Chapter Two team as a volunteer in 2021, working on Saturday mornings to coincide with my teaching role. As teaching was becoming more admin focused, I applied for and got the Deputy Manager role in June 2022 and, subsequently, following the interview process, took on the Shop Manager role in September 2023. I only knew the Hospice through the shop and walking past before I applied to be a volunteer. 

Chapter Two has grown and developed in the two years since I started.  It has a thriving customer base and, following our support of events in the High Street, is the happy place for volunteers and customers alike. We pride ourselves on our offering and get a lot of praise from customers (and their pets) for the wonderful community appeal.  

My daily job is a juggling act! We have loads of lovely donations every day, sometimes up to 1000 books when it’s busy.  My team are amazing and help clean, gift aid, price and store these books. We have different routes to market – in the shop, high value items in the cabinet, good quality or new books online and sometimes we are lucky enough to be donated a valuable book which goes to auction so checking through the donations is therefore a very careful and precise task. 

We have a wonderful team of volunteers and young people working towards their DoE Awards. We are lucky enough to have more than 35 regular volunteers who all help make the shop warm and welcoming. It is a pleasure to work with so many interesting people who give their time willingly to support the Hospice.  

I enjoy planning and implementing the window displays with my creative team which receive a wide range of positive comments from the public, particularly for the main displays such as Christmas, Easter and local events such as Hats Off.  We also put on a number of events in the shop during the year, some monthly such as the Diversity Book Club and Open Mic Poetry evenings, and others which are specific to a book launch or a local artist from the community displaying their work. I enjoy meeting these diverse people and helping make their event a success.   

I love retail.  I owned a shop many years ago and enjoy the interaction with customers as every customer is different and so it is very motivating to listen to their stories and find a suitable book for them or for customers to give as a present. 

My favourite memory of the shop is winning the Muddy Stilettos Award for the Best Bookshop in Bucks & Oxon in 2023.  This meant so much as it was voted on by the general public, our volunteers and customers.  Everyone was smiling as a result!”  

Blog: The Next Chapter...

Meet Mark Jackson-Hancock, our book expert.

Alongside guest blogs, he'll be sharing his thoughts about reading and all things book-related in this new blog: The Next Chapter...!

Mark has worked in bookshops all his life including Ottakar's, Waterstones, the House of Commons bookshop and the Chorleywood Bookshop. He spent five years operating a library service to ships at sea and recently worked for the Book Trade Charity in Kings Langley managing their book sales.

Mark-Jackson-Hancock
Diversity Book Club

Blog

Diversity Book Club

Read more
Reading and Wellbeing: Ben Batten’s ‘A Bussa of Blessings’

Blog

Reading and Wellbeing: Ben Batten’s ‘A Bussa of Blessings’

Read more
Why Read Orwell?

Blog

Why Read Orwell?

Read more
Charlottes Blog

Blog

Childhood Reading!

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Our Local Community...

Blog

Our Local Community...

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Lockdown Reading Recommendations

Blog

Lockdown Reading Recommendations

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LGBT+ Books

Blog

LGBT+ Books

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Don't judge a book by its cover...judge it by the first sentence!

Blog

Don't judge a book by its cover...judge it by the first sentence!

Read more
Pick Up A Penguin

Blog

Pick Up A Penguin

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The countdown begins!

Blog

The countdown begins!

Read more
Reading versus Television

Blog

Reading versus Television

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Reading for Wellbeing

Blog

Reading for Wellbeing

Read more

Click to find out about our workshops

New Autumn/Winter programme of workshops now available to book

Learn more

Download the 'My Charity Shop App'

  • Easier donations with your Gift Aid Donorcard

  • Track your environmental impact

  • Updates and sale info from our shops!

  • Stay up to date with your local hospice

Click to find out about our gift shop

Designer gift shop, number twenty

Learn more

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View our online stores

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